PHILADELPHIA -- The Boston Blazers defeated the
Philadelphia Wings 10-6 in the Wings' home opener in front of a
raucous crowd of 7,940 Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center in
Philadelphia.

The Blazers were led by newcomer and reigning NLL MVP Casey Powell
(see video below), who had five goals and two assists. Powell
didn't waste any time making his presence felt with his new team,
as he recorded a point in six out of the Blazers' first seven
goals.

"This is a franchise first coming out of the gates 1-0," Powell
said. "That was our goal and that's what we did. It was a great
team win for us and great for momentum for the rest of the
season."

The game was a bit sloppy and really started out as a defensive
struggle with both teams struggling to bang off the rust early in
the game. There wasn't a goal until the 8:49 mark of the first
quarter, when Philadelphia's Drew Westervelt (1 goal, 2 assists)
opened the scoring. From there, a steady back and forth pace
ensued. Neither team led by more than a goal in the first half, as
Boston took a 5-4 lead into halftime.

From there it was all Blazers. They held Philadelphia to two goals
in the second half, outshooting the Wings 51 to 33. For Blazers
coach Matt Sawyer, this marked his first win as a NLL head
coach.

"It wasn't a pretty win. We gutted that one out, but sometimes
those are the prettiest. We didn't have our game going
tonight. Clearly our defense and goaltending led the way. It was a
team effort top to bottom," said Sawyer.

Blazers goalie Anthony Cosmo had 27 saves on the night to pace
the defense.

"Our defense played great and so did our goalie. It was a good
start, but we have to look forward to Edmonton," said Powell, who
along with 2010 NLL point leader Josh Sanderson (2 goals, 4
assists), made his Blazers debut in the win. Forward Dan Dawson
added eight assists on the night for Boston.

For Philadelphia, the loss dropped them to 14-11 all time in home
openers and spoiled head coach John Tucker's Wings coaching debut.
Wings goalie Brandon Miller had a busy night with 41 saves, and
kept the Wings in the game.

"I think we were sloppy at times," Tucker said. "We played well in
the first quarter offensively and were moving, but then we got to
standing around the outside on the perimeter. I thought defensively
we played a pretty good game and our goalkeeper was great. We have
a lot to work on."

Athan Iannucci, the NLL's single season goal scoring record
holder, had a successful return from a knee injury that forced him
to miss the entire 2010 season. Iannucci had a hand in half of the
Wings' goals, recording one goal and two assists. Bill McGlone and
Alex Turner each netted a pair of goals as well for
Philadelphia.

The Wings have a new coach and a lot of new faces on a team that
went 5-11 last year, but Tucker said that does not excuse the
loss.

"We just looked a bit off tonight. I take full responsibility. We
are going to get better each week so hopefully against Buffalo, we
get better," Tucker said.

Both teams play next Saturday night at 7:30 PM with the Wings
hosting the Bandits at the Wells Fargo Center and the Blazers
returning home to Boston to play the Edmonton Rush.